Vancouver, BC -- The new Canadian Venture Exchange (CDNX), in cooperation with the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia (CLE), will present a seminar to introduce CDNX policies and practices in Vancouver (February 2, 2000) and Calgary (February 3, 2000). The seminar is an important educational opportunity for lawyers, accountants, brokers, advisors, and representatives of both listed and prospective listed companies.

The early February seminar date gives professionals almost a month to prepare for the new CDNX policy regime that takes effect on March 1, 2000.

William L. Hess, QC, the newly appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of CDNX, will be featured as keynote speaker at the seminar. Mr. Hess was previously the Chair of the Alberta Securities Commission. He led the Commission through significant changes, including its transformation to an industry-funded provincial corporation with significantly enhanced fiscal, managerial, and operational authority. Mr. Hess worked to improve securities regulation at the national level, with Alberta playing a leadership role in the development of the new Canadian Securities Regulatory System.

Registrants for the CDNX/CLE seminar will learn about major policy changes and how the new policies and procedures will affect industry practices. They will learn from senior CDNX personnel what the policies mean, receive advice on dealing with CDNX, and learn the practical implications of the changes. Registrants will obtain reference material including the relevant policies, comparison information, and contact names and numbers.

CDNX is partnering with CLE in the development and delivery of the seminar. CLE is a not-for-profit society with 30 years experience in education. CLE is widely respected for its legal and cross-professional education and is the winner of numerous international awards for educational courses, publications, and technology. CLE is proud to have the support of the Legal Education Society of Alberta for this seminar.

The joint seminar will also be presented in Toronto and Ottawa in March.

CDNX highlights:

• William (Bill) Hess, QC appointed first President of the proposed new exchange, November 16, 1999.
• Merger of the Alberta and Vancouver stock exchanges approved, November 26, 1999.
• CDNX launched November 29, 1999 with 2,361 listed companies and 59 member firms.
• Opening day trading volume at 62.3 million shares was 60% higher than the combined average numbers for the predecessor markets. Trading value at $86.6 million and number of trades at 21,783 were more than twice the combined levels for November.

• Strong market activity continued through December, the first full month of trading. Share volume trading surpassed one billion, with the value of those shares reaching $1 billion.

• CDNX website address: www.cdnx.com.
• InfoCDNX, CDNX listed company database: 

- 30 -